Northeast and Shorecrest Prep are an even 4-4 against one another since December of 2015, but not for long. The Northeast Vikings will welcome the Shorecrest Prep Chargers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Northeast has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the match with four straight defeats, while Shorecrest Prep will come in with three straight victories.
Last Wednesday, Northeast had to suffer through a 82-36 loss at the hands of East Lake. The game marked the Vikings' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
Northeast's loss came about despite a quality game from Ezahri Hendrickson, who posted five points and five steals. Hendrickson is becoming a predictor of Northeast's success: when he posts at least three steals the team is 2-1 (and 0-4 when he doesn't). Damon Vines was another key player, putting up eight points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Shorecrest Prep strolled past St. Petersburg Catholic with points to spare on Wednesday, taking the game 67-52.
Northeast better focus on containing Nickolas Bearden and Damarion Feaster as the pair were huge in Shorecrest Prep's win. Bearden had 27 points, while Feaster posted 21 points. The matchup was Bearden's 19th in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Edward Mitchem, who put up eight points.
Northeast's defeat dropped their record down to 2-5. As for Shorecrest Prep, their win bumped their record up to 3-0.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Northeast hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 58.7 points per game. However, it's not like Shorecrest Prep struggles in that department as they've been averaging 58 points. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Northeast didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Shorecrest Prep when the teams last played back in December of 2023, but they still walked away with a 64-59 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Bearden, who earned 34 points. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Northeast still be able to contain Bearden? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
